NWSL 2017: Week 4

We're back for more action this weekend, beginning with three Saturday games. The first is...

The Chicago Red Stars hosting the Houston Dash. Lydia Williams and Alyssa Naeher protect the nets. Houston's Bruna took a yellow card for a fourteenth minute foul. Chicago got a gift to start the scoring in the forty-fourth minute when the Dash's Sarah Hagen scored an own goal. The Red Stars added on in the sixty-first minute with a goal by Julie Johnston Ertz. Christen Press of Chicago received a yellow card for an eighty-second minute foul. The final held at 2-0, with Ertz the woman of the match for her well-rounded game.

To the east, the Washington Spirit welcome Sky Blue FC. Kailen Sheridan and Stephanie Labbe are in the six-yard boxes. Washington led off in the sixth minute with a Francisca Ordega goal, set up by Line Sigvardsen Jensen. Sky Blue tied it on a twelfth minute goal by Kelley O'Hara. The Spirit retook the lead in the twenty-sixth minute when Sky Blue's Erin Simon put the ball in her own net for an own goal. Washington added on with a Havana Solaun goal in the thirty-fourth minute, coming off of Ordega. Sky Blue's Simon had a yellow card for a thirty-ninth minute foul. Sky Blue pulled back in the fiftieth minute on a Sarah Killion goal, guided in by O'Hara. The Spirit replied with a fifty-sixth minute goal by Ordega, her second of the game. Sky Blue shot back with a Killion penalty kick goal in the seventy-first minute, her second of the game. Cheyna Williams of Washington had a yellow card in the eighty-seventh minute for a foul. The final held at 4-3, with Ordega the woman of the match for a brace, assist, and the cross that led to Simon's own goal.

Saturday ends in the Northwest, as the Portland Thorns FC host the Seattle Reign FC for some Cascadia fun. Haley Kopmeyer and Adrianna Franch are the keepers. Seattle began in the first minute with a Jess Fishlock goal, assisted by Rumi Utsugi. Portland tied it in the thirty-seventh minute as Fishlock slid into a Hayley Raso cross that ended up in the Seattle goal. The Reign fired back with a thirty-ninth minute Merritt Mathias goal, coming off of Rebekah Stott. Seattle saw yellow cards for fouls by Megan Rapinoe in the fifty-seventh minute and Fishlock in the sixty-sixth minute. The Thorns' Amandine Henry took a yellow card for her seventy-third minute foul. Portland tied it on an eighty-second minute Allie Long goal, guided in by Meghan Klingenberg. Lindsey Horan of the Thorns had a yellow card in stoppage time for her foul. The game ended 2-2, with the woman of the match being Mathias.

On Sunday, the Boston Breakers bring in the North Carolina Courage. Sabrina D'Angelo and Abby Smith guard the woodwork. North Carolina opened in the thirty-second minute on a Jessica McDonald goal. Boston's Julie King had a yellow card for her thirty-fifth minute foul. The Breakers' Rosie White took a yellow card for her fifty-third minute foul. In the eighty-second minute, Boston's Adriana Leon received a yellow card for a foul. The Courage had a yellow card for time wasting by Taylor Smith in the eighty-seventh minute. The game ended at 1-0, with McDonald named woman of the match.

Finally, FC Kansas City hosts the Orlando Pride. Ashlyn Harris and Nicole Barnhart are the keepers. In first half stoppage time, Kansas City's Sydney Leroux received a yellow card for her foul. Maddy Evans of Orlando had a yellow card for a sixtieth minute foul. The Pride got going in the seventy-third minute with a Marta goal, passed from Jasmyne Spencer. Kansas City tied it on an eighty-fourth minute goal by Erika Tymrak, assisted by Maegan Kelley. The game ended 1-1, with the woman of the match honors going to Marta.

Follow me on Twitter @OutsiderSports0. 6